Rock News

Black Sabbath launching North American tour

Black Sabbath is bringing their world tour to these shores. The band, who only played a handful of dates last year, is on the road supporting 13, their reunion album with original frontman Ozzy Osbourne.

But Ozzy says having new material doesn't make it easier to put a set list together. He tells "USA Today" the band has "so much stuff to choose from" that it's "very difficult" to decide what to play and what to skip. Ozzy adds that with "so many good songs" it's also tough to settle on a running order for the show. Sabbath's 13, which is the band's first chart-topping album in the U.S., features the single "God Is Dead?" along with the track "End of the Beginning," which received a showcase on the CBS drama "CSI." The band can also reach back more than 40 years, to their first UK hit "Paranoid," which peaked at number four on the British chart back in 1970.

Black Sabbath will launch their 20-date North American trek with a performance in Houston Thursday night. Andrew W.K. is also on board as the "special guest DJ" to open the shows.

Black Sabbath Tour Dates

July 25 - Houston, Texas, at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion July 27 - Austin, Texas, at the Frank Erwin Center July 29 - Tampa, Florida, at the Live Nation Amphitheatre July 31 - West Palm Beach, Florida, at the Cruzan Amphitheatre August 2 - Bristow, Virginia, at Jiffy Lube Live August 4 - Holmdel, New Jersey, at the PNC Bank Arts Center August 6 - Detroit, Michigan, at the DTE Energy Music Theatre August 8 - Uncasville, Connecticut, at the Mohegan Sun Arena August 10 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Wells Fargo Center August 12 - Boston, Massachusetts, at the Comcast Center August 14 - Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the Air Canada Centre August 16 - Tinley Park, Illinois, at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre August 18 - Indianapolis, Indiana, at the Klipsch Music Center August 22 - Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at Rogers Arena August 24 - Seattle, Washington, at the Gorge Amphitheatre August 26 - San Francisco, California, at the Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View August 28 - Irvine, California, at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre August 30 - Phoenix, Arizona, at the US Airways Center September 1 - Las Vegas, Nevada, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena September 3 - Los Angeles, California, at the Los Angeles Sports Arena